Accident Raises Concern

A Car Hits 2 Girls On Their Way To School. Officials Say They'll Look Into Making The Osceola Road Safer.

October 23, 2004|By Susan Jacobson, Sentinel Staff Writer

BUENAVENTURA LAKES -- The Lynx bus was approaching the curb, and Dianna Lugo and Amanda Bigelow were running in the pre-dawn darkness Friday to catch it. Their friend Patrick Goad had just crossed busy Osceola Parkway and called for the girls to follow.

Dianna and Amanda, both 13, tore across the street so quickly that motorist Cynthia Ward, 41, of Buenaventura Lakes didn't see them until it was too late. She swerved her Nissan Altima but still struck the girls, who were headed for Parkway Middle School a little less than two miles away.

Christian Lugo, Dianna's father, was in New York preparing the family's home there to be rented when he got a call saying his daughter had been hit by a car. He immediately flew back to Orlando and visited Dianna at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women, where she was recovering Friday from bleeding from her ear and mouth and a cut on her chin that required stitches.

Dianna was well enough to console her mother, Ana, Christian Lugo said.

"I told her, `You're a little soldier,' " said Lugo, who moved his family to Central Florida in July. " `You're a strong little girl. You're going to pull through.' " This brought tears to her eyes, Lugo said.

Amanda was treated and released from Florida Hospital Kissimmee. Patrick, 13, was shaken but otherwise unhurt, said his sister, Amanda Cooley, 18.

A committee of law-enforcement officers and traffic and engineering experts next month will consider ways to make safer the intersection where the girls were hit, a spokesman for the Osceola County Sheriff's Office said. The girls were in or near a crosswalk on the westbound side of Osceola Parkway and Coral Reef Circle, the street on which they live.

The answer, however, may not be simple. School administrators sent home a flier with students informing their parents about the accident and letting them know counselors were available on campus. Even though children got a reminder about safety during the day, a girl darted in front of a car just steps from the school Friday afternoon after showing a motorist the flier. Shortly thereafter, two boys on bicycles rode into traffic.

"Parents can be vigilant about teaching their kids to cross the street, but the fact is children are children," said Joan Duffell, director of community education for the Committee for Children, a Seattle-based nonprofit organization. "They're not always going to do what you've taught them. Some of this is about our community's response. It is all part of a bigger picture."

The change to standard time on Oct. 31 might have helped Ward see the girls better, Osceola County spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain said. Dawn will come an hour earlier starting then.

"It's not safe walking in the dark," said Christian Cabrera, 16, a Gateway High School student who lives in the neighborhood and formerly attended Parkway Middle. "Even with your headlights on high beam, you would not be able to see somebody with dark clothes."

Added Trooper Kim Miller, Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman, "Drivers have to realize pedestrians can do anything." Ward had a green light, Miller said, and was not at fault.

Starting school days later doesn't appear to be an option because bus schedules must be staggered to serve children from elementary to high school, officials said. Later start times also would push high-school classes too late for students who have extracurricular activities or jobs.

"It would be nice if every school could start when it's light outside, but that's not reality," said Dana Schafer, a spokeswoman for the Osceola district. "So, we definitely need our parents' help reinforcing staff and school resource officer lessons on safety."

Osceola County School Board member Jay Wheeler said the district must do the best it can with explosive growth and limited resources. The result is that some children must cross busy streets to get to school because there is no school closer to them.

"I think we have to look at the way we're zoning children that they have to cross major roads," Wheeler said. "I have real heartburn about it."